


Until I Met You

by caitlinrose923



Series: Little Dog 'Verse [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan Pupstravaganza (Once Upon a Time), F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-27 17:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21396274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlinrose923/pseuds/caitlinrose923
Summary: Choice scenes from "I'd Pick You (& Your Little Dog, Too)" from Killian's POV.Please read that workbeforethis one.As always, I need to thankCaptain Swan Pupstravaganzafor hosting this event andLeannefor reading my words and reassuring me that they do, in fact, make sense!And a huge special shout-out toSvenjafor coming up with Procella's name in the first place.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Series: Little Dog 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538944
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70
Collections: Captain Swan Pupstravaganza





	1. Killian Jones Gets a Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Killian doesn't have a dog, so he's trying not to overthink the sheriff's dog's reaction to meeting him. But then two dogs appear and he and his sister don't have dogs and... what if it's time to take fate into his own hands? Or... hand, as it were.

Killian Jones is a smart man.

He knows that incessantly thinking about a beautiful woman with a dog can’t possibly be a good idea. He doesn’t have one himself, and it seems as though he’s destined to be alone forever because of it. 

He’d had love once, of course, but the odds of that happening again, and without a canine companion, are slim to none. Closer to none.

But still, he can’t stop thinking about the woman from the diner. The one with the handsome dog who’d nearly climbed into his lap when he’d said hello. Most dogs were indifferent towards him, others didn’t seem to like him at all. But he’d never experienced… that reaction.

And that means nothing, because Killian doesn’t have a dog.

He’s heard about the dogs at the shelter, of course. He knows a bit of the story now, a few days after it all happened. Knows that the sheriff and one of the deputies were apparently able to get the dogs to follow them. 

And then he finds out that the sheriff of this small town he’s found himself suddenly living in, the very sheriff who was able to get these stray dogs -- what a strange phrase -- to follow her, was the very same woman who’d enchanted him in the diner.

What are the odds?

He’s not sure how he convinced Mary Margaret to go to the shelter with him. It certainly wasn’t easy, and it took longer than he’d been hoping. His sister loves animals but she believes they shouldn’t be kept cooped up as pets. Dogs aside, of course, as they’re more companion than pet, but she hasn’t got one of those either.

Together in their loneliness, the two of them. It’d be sweet -- two siblings who never had a chance to get to know each other, finally reunited -- if it weren’t so damn sad.

Killian doesn’t believe in coincidence. Fate, sure, he guesses. At least when it comes to soulmates. He’s a romantic that way. But he _doesn’t_ believe that people have no control over their destiny. So when he really thinks about the fact that there are _two dogs_ who appear just after _he and his sister_ have arrived in Storybrooke, and they don’t seem to be claimed yet, he decides to make his own fate.

He’s going to go and see if one of those dogs belongs to him.

So, he convinces Mary Margaret that if they adopt a small animal, a lizard or a bird or something equally innocuous, that it’ll liven up their lonely loft apartment. Her defenses have been down ever since she saw the deputy giving a talk at the school, as all her thoughts seem to be occupied by him. Killian knows they went to lunch together, but she hasn’t told him much else.

On the short drive to the shelter, he wonders if the deputy his sister is so enamored with is the same one who helped the sheriff catch the loose dogs. He glances at her and wonders how she hasn’t made the same connection.

It takes all of Killian’s strength not to go straight to the kennel where the two goldens are sitting together. They’re right by the front, staring at him and his sister. The attendant gasps and Killian turns to look at her, eyebrow raised.

“They… they _never_ wake up to see visitors,” she tells him. This finally grabs Mary Margaret’s attention and the siblings stare at each other for a moment.

Killian finally clears his throat and approaches the kennel.

The larger of the two dogs stares at him, unsure. He eyes him up as Killian holds his hand out to the smaller one. She sniffs him, cocks her head.

_Can I trust you?_ She seems to be asking.

“Hey, little love,” he says softly. “You’re a little scared, yeah? That’s alright, I’ll take care of you. If you’d like.”

He feels silly, talking to a dog as though she’s a human, but she seems to understand him and she drops her head into his hand, asking for scratches.

Asking for love.

The larger dog whines as Mary Margaret finally approaches the kennel. His tail wags, swishing against the floor as he waits patiently for her to kneel down before him and offer her hand for him to consider.

“Killian…” Mary Margaret whispers. Her eyes are lit up and Killian recognizes the look on her face as the same one from the day she’d seen the deputy at the school: it’s one full of hope. “Is that… are these…?”

“It certainly feels like it,” Killian responds. And it does. There’s an ache in his chest that he’s never felt before. He can’t quite figure it out, but it’s almost like he misses something, someone, but he’s not sure _what_ or _who_.

“Do you guys want me to open the kennel?” Killian jumps at the sound of the woman who’d brought them in. He’d forgotten she was there. “I don’t… I’ve never seen them pay attention to anyone besides the sheriff and her brother.”

Mary Margaret stiffens beside him at this, and Killian looks at her questioningly. She shakes her head. _Later_, she mouths.

When it’s all settled and everyone agrees that these dogs belong to Killian and Mary Margaret, they head home. Mary Margaret chooses “Charming” as her new charge’s name, a sarcastic choice because of the way he keeps growling at Killian under his breath whenever Killian reaches for Procella.

_Procella_.

He’s not sure where the name came from. It popped into his brain, a long-forgotten word from his tutoring side job back home, as soon as she’d been let out of the kennel. It turns out to be pretty accurate, moody as she is.

No, not moody.

It’s more of an unwillingness to trust.

Charming follows Mary Margaret around as though they’ve been together their entire lives, but Procella only comes near Killian when he least expects it. When he’s sitting on the couch, pointedly trying to avoid looking at her for fear of scaring her off, she’ll come and sit at his feet. The more he turns away from her, only allowing himself sideways glances at her, the more she seems to come near him.

It’s much like courting a shy woman, and Killian can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous relationship he’s forming with his dog.

But he can’t deny that his life feels _right_ in a way it never really has. As though there’s been a heavy, invisible chip on his shoulder and he’s finally shaken it off. Or, rather, Procella has pushed it off, allowing him to stand up straight for the first time in his life.

It only takes a couple of weeks before he finally runs into the sheriff again.

She smiles when she recognizes him, and that boosts his confidence as he approaches her. Rascal is by her side, anxiously trying to greet his friend. Procella pulls at the leash a bit, clearly wanting to see Rascal as well, but sensing that Killian can’t hold his coffee and her leash at the same time if she pulls too hard.

Once he reaches Emma, they settle into easy conversation and he finds himself wishing he’d run into her sooner.

Watching Procella play for the first time is eye-opening for Killian. She doesn’t play, really, not even with Charming. She’ll seek him out for comfort occasionally, but they don’t wrestle like she is with Rascal. This is something different.

As if on cue, the ache in his chest returns for the first time since he came home with Procella. He glances at Emma and finally decides it’s time to take fate into his own hands once again.

“Emma, I don’t want to come across as too forward,” he begins, and her face changes entirely. Her eyes widen, and she somehow looks afraid and excited at the same time. He tries not to think about Procella’s face the first time he’d tried to take her outside alone, without the comfort of Charming and Mary Margaret. “But would you and Rascal perhaps join me for lunch?”


	2. Emma Swan Gets a Ring (No, Not That One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killian gives Emma a ring. Calm down, he's not proposing.

Killian is hardly surprised when David Nolan proposes to Mary Margaret. They’ve been practically inseparable since the only obstacle they’d faced -- Mary Margaret’s distinct lack of a dog whilst David had been matched years prior -- had been taken care of. Princess and Charming are quite the pair, walking around Storybrooke like _they_ run the town, rather than Killian’s very own Emma Nolan. His Swan.

Ah, Swan.

_“Tell me about your parents,” Killian said over dinner one night. _

_“I don’t… I don’t really remember much,” Emma responded. Her tone wasn’t quite sad, more… begrudgingly accepting. “David’s the one who remembers everything about them. I spent so much time out of the house, especially those last few years.” She shrugged._

_“So tell me what you do remember,” he’d said as he carefully reached across the table to take her hand._

_She sighed and put her fork down._

_“My mom’s maiden name was Swan,” she began, “and my dad would always call her his Swan Princess. They were _stupid_ in love.” She smiled when she said it, and Killian met her eyes, squeezing her hand once in encouragement. “They used to dance around the living room. The dogs would get under their feet all the time.” Emma laughed, and a lone tear escaped down her cheek. She looked down at her plate before she spoke again. “God, I haven’t thought about their dogs in ages. Skip, my mom’s dog, used to sleep in my room when I was really small. I had nightmares, and he’d come hang out with me after my parents fell asleep.”_

_“A good lad,” Killian said when she paused for a moment._

_“Yeah, he was.” She looked up at him. “Thank you.”_

_“For what, love?”_

_“For making me remember. I haven’t thought about my parents in a long time because it hurt too much. But it doesn’t seem as bad with you here.”_

_She blushed a bit, her neck and her cheeks burning red, and Killian knew she felt like she’d bared too much of herself to him. _

_He stood and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She gripped his arm with her right hand and squeezed._

_“Glad to be of service, Swan.”_

_“Swan?”_

_“Oh, aye. I think it suits you.”_

Killian had learned much about Emma’s parents since that night. She’d started to remember more and more -- sometimes specific memories, other times she would suddenly shout characteristics at him in the middle of a walk.

_“My mother was afraid of spiders!”_

He’s thinking about Emma, about how much she’s opened up to him about things that used to be so difficult, when he stops dead in his tracks. Procella looks up at him, concerned.

He’s in love with Emma.

It shouldn’t come as such a shock. They’re soulmates, after all, and he’d been drawn to her, to Rascal, _weeks_ before he’d even known he’d _had_ a soulmate. They live together.

So it stands to reason that he’d fall in love with her.

But for as much as they share, and as much as they know about each other, they’ve never said those words to one another. And now, as he’s walking Procella back home to prepare for his sister’s wedding, it’s a startling realization.

Something must be done about this.

\----

He watches her during the ceremony. He can’t help it, really. What else is he supposed to do? 

She’s beautiful.

She meets his eyes when David gives his vows, her teeth worrying her lower lip, and holds his gaze until the officiant concludes the ceremony

“And so may the love between you always be strong, true, and eternal,” he says.

David and Mary Margaret kiss, but Killian’s still staring at Emma.

He wonders if she loves him. He knows she’d never say it first -- knows she’d be too afraid of rejection, no matter how many times he’s shown her that’s not something she needs to fear with him.

He feels the weight of his brother’s ring around his neck, resting beneath his dress shirt, and he knows exactly what to do. On the drive to the diner, he carefully removes the chain from around his neck and tucks it into his pants pocket beside the treats he brought for the dogs. They’d been such good sports throughout the entire wedding ceremony, even the girls with those flower crowns. They deserve a treat.

Killian is dancing with Emma at Granny’s -- certainly not a sentence he ever imagined would be true, and yet here they are -- when he decides it’s now or never.

“I wanted to give you something,” he blurts out, suddenly feeling quite nervous. “Can we step outside?” Best to do this away from prying eyes, of which there are plenty in the diner on this blessed day.

They step outside and Killian shivers once. Away from the heat of the packed diner, there’s a chill in the air. He shrugs out of his jacket and drapes it over Emma’s shoulders. The dress Mary Margaret picked for her, lovely as it is, has no sleeves, and he’s sure she’ll be freezing.

He takes a deep breath.

“Emma,” he starts, and her eyes widen at his use of her first name. “I don’t think it’s any secret that we’re meant to be, right?” She looks at him curiously, and he can tell she’s nervous, unsure of where this is going. She finally nods and he continues. “It’s just… we never talk about it,” her eyes widen again and he hurriedly adds, “and that’s fine! But today, watching David and Mary Margaret get married and take that next step, it sort of got me thinking.” He scratches behind his ear and he sees Emma smile at the action.

Until he reaches into his pocket. She stiffens immediately.

“Killian, I don’t--”

“Calm down, Swan, I’m not proposing.”

She noticeably relaxes at that, and then he catches a glimpse of guilt on her face, as though she feels badly for being excited that he’s not proposing.

No, that’ll come later. When she’s ready.

“This was my brother’s ring,” he says when he pulls the ring out of his pocket. “And I’d like you to have it.”

Killian looks at her, right in her eyes. He searches for any type of reaction. Fear, anger, apprehension.

All he sees is love.

God he hopes she loves him.

“Your brother… are you sure?” Emma reaches out and touches the ring gently, as though it’ll break if she grabs it too suddenly. As though he’ll pull it away from her if she gets too excited.

“Aye, I am. I… I love you, Emma. And this is the best way I can think to express that.”

There’s no pause. Not an ounce of hesitation.

“I love you, too.”

_Oh thank God_, he thinks to himself. And then he kisses her because there’s nothing else in the entire world he’d rather do than kiss _the woman he loves_ who, by some miracle _loves him back_.

He reaches back into his pocket and digs out the cookies for the dogs when they whine at him, wanting attention amidst the copious amounts of romance they’ve had to deal with today. And then his hand gravitates towards his pocket again, practically of its own volition, wrapping his fingers around the velvet box he’s been carrying around for weeks. _Soon_, he thinks to himself, throwing the other arm around Emma’s shoulders while they watch Rascal and Procella share a couple of dog cookies underneath a table. 

He presses a kiss to her hair, and they stay outside until she shivers, cold even beneath his jacket, and then they head inside and dance again.

Until Granny kicks them all out at three in the morning, claiming it’s time for her to get started on making bacon for the morning crowd. And then Killian takes Emma’s hand while they drive, and they crawl into bed together, and she tells him a few more times that she loves him, smiling against his skin, and he’s not sure he’s ever been so damn content in his life.


	3. Emma Swan Gets a House (and That Other Ring)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the hell is Killian supposed to propose in the Nolans’ old house if someone else is buying it out from under him?

When Kris tells Killian that he’s selling the house, Killian figures that’s a sign. It’s Emma’s old house, and Killian just _happens_ to work with the person who owns it, who just _happens_ to be selling it just as Killian is trying to figure out how to pop the question to his girlfriend.

He’s obviously got to ask her to marry him _inside the house_. He’s got to buy the house and then get down on one knee once they’re inside.

So once the house goes up, he calls right away. Well, not right away. He waits for Emma to leave for work on the day Kris told him the sign was going up. And then he looks up the phone number for the office Kris is selling the house through. And then he calls.

“I’d like to place an offer on the house that just went up on Wonderland Drive,” he tells the man on the other end of the line.

“The asking price is two-hundred-thousand,” the man tells him. 

_Shit_, Killian thinks. He hasn’t got nearly enough for it yet. 

“Will they take one-fifty?”

“It’s only just gone up this morning, Mister…,” the man trails off, obviously waiting for Killian to offer a name.

“Rogers,” he tells him. No sense in anyone knowing he’s put an offer in on the house until it’s accepted. A pseudonym never hurt anyone.

“Mister Rogers, how lovely!” Killian groans as the man makes a few jokes about sweaters and the neighborhood before finally getting to the point. “I’ll make a note of your offer, but if someone offers something higher, of course they’ll likely accept the higher bid.”

Killian knows it would be easier to just ask Kris to sell him the house. But Kris has gone off on a trip with his wife and they’ve been planning to sell for ages. It feels wrong to ask him to take a huge cut in the price just as a small favor. They’re not _really_ friends, just work acquaintances. So he’s got to go by the book.

He spends the next hour at work in a wonderful mood. He’s never been inside the house, but he’s still imagining himself living in it with his Swan, with their pups and their future children and it’s all just…

It’s hopelessly romantic.

Of course, it all falls apart when the realtor calls back.

“Mister Rogers?” he asks, and Killian almost tells him he’s got the wrong number before he remembers that he gave the man a false name.

“Aye, that’s me,” he says, unsure of why the man would be calling him back so early in the day. Hardly anyone would have gone to the open house just yet.

“Um, we’ve had a higher offer on the house, and it’s in cash. I wanted to give you a chance to counter before I accept on behalf of the owners.”

“How much is the offer?”

“The full value. Two-hundred-thousand.” The man sounds off somehow, as though he _wants_ to discourage Killian from buying the house. Killian wonders, briefly, who’s got that much cash lying around.

_David_, he thinks. He knows the Nolans have a fairly large inheritance waiting for them, that they’ve decided to save it until the moment is right. And this certainly is the right moment. Ah, well. If Emma can’t have the house, David certainly should.

“No, that’s alright.” Killian sighs into the phone. “Accept the other offer. I can’t beat it.”

For the first time in what feels like forever, Killian leaves work early. He’s disappointed in the turn of events and he can’t shake the frustration. So he heads home and cracks open a beer at lunchtime. Normally, he’s a rum drinker, but he doesn’t want to get drunk in the middle of the day. Nor does he want to be drunk when Emma gets home, because he’s quite an emotional drunk and he doesn’t want to be emotional. He just wants to numb the negativity he’s feeling.

He’s just opened the third beer, petting Procella’s head absentmindedly, when Emma comes home. She’s flushed and excited and just, in general, acting the opposite of how Killian feels. He doesn’t want to go out, isn’t up for an adventure or a date or whatever she’s trying to drag him on, but he’ll deny her next to nothing, and so he goes.

The roads they take are suspiciously familiar and they’re halfway there when he starts to suspect what’s going on.

“Swan, where are we going?” he asks. She jumps at the sound of his voice, as though she’d been lost in thought and had forgotten he was even there.

“I bought something I want to show you,” she tells him.

“Emma, did you—”

“We’re almost there,” she cuts him off, and her voice cracks just a bit. Killian second-guesses his assumption for a moment, because she seems upset. And if she’d bought the house, she wouldn’t be upset.

Would she?

They ride the rest of the way in silence.

She pulls up in front of the house and climbs out of the car without a word. Rascal and Procella both follow her, Killian too slow for Procella’s liking. He opens the door and sees the big red SOLD sign in front of the realtor’s face on the lawn.

And then he laughs.

He can’t stop laughing, because _of course_ Emma bought the house. She’s brilliant, his Swan, and he should know by now that they’re more alike than he could ever possibly comprehend. She reaches the house and freezes when she hears him laughing. He jogs across the street to catch up to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

“Swan, you bloody brilliant woman!” He squeezes her against him, more in love with her than he ever thought possible. 

“You don’t even… what?” She sounds utterly confused and he can’t stop laughing.

“You’re the buyer? I should have known!” He kisses her hair.

Finally, the tension that’s been increasing in her shoulders since they left the apartment seems to recede and she turns around to face him, still stuck in his embrace.

“Were _you_ the first bidder?” she accuses, and then smacks his chest. But she’s smiling, and that’s all that matters to Killian. “I was so angry!”

When Killian finally pulls himself together and stops laughing, choosing instead to stare at his girlfriend with nothing but wonder and adoration, she invites him inside their home.

_Their home_.

The dogs see themselves off, preferring to sniff the empty corners than to stand in the doorway with Killian and Emma. 

“I’m glad you brought me here, Swan,” Killian whispers into her hair. _And even more glad I’ve been walking around with this bloody ring in my coat pocket for weeks_. “I had big plans for this house, and I thought they’d all been dashed.” He places a kiss against her skin. “But now, hope is renewed.” 

“Big plans?” She asks as a shiver runs down her spine. He grins against her shoulder.

“Oh, aye.” He reaches into his pocket. “In fact, now seems as good a time as any, don’t you think?”

Truthfully, Killian’s wanted to propose for months. Long before David proposed to Mary Margaret. Killian would have proposed the moment he realized Emma was his soulmate. That’s how right she’s always felt, from the very beginning. But he waited, because she wouldn’t have wanted that. She would have run for the hills, and he couldn’t have _that_ happen. He wonders, even now, if she’s really ready for this step. But she’s bought the house, and that has to mean something.

Or it has to mean everything.

He steps around her and takes one knee. Rascal and Procella, sensing the importance of the moment, leave the task of sniffing every corner for later and come to join him. Really, they must look ridiculous, the three of them just staring at Emma.

“I feel like we’ve done a lot of things backwards, Swan.” She smiles at the nickname and he presses on. “We met before I even knew I had a soulmate. I thought I’d be alone forever, adrift at sea without anyone for company. But then you and Rascal came along,” he glances to his left at the pitbull who’d once climbed into his lap in greeting. “And you brought me Procella.” At the mention of her name, Killian hears his dog’s tail start swishing against the hardwood floor. “And then, by some miracle, you let me in.” Emma’s truly crying now and Killian’s barely holding back his own tears. A couple of saps, they are. “And you gave me something I never thought I would have: true love. And now, Emma Nolan, I have to ask you a very important question.” He pauses, as though there’s any suspense left in the moment. “Will you marry me?”

She’s already saying ‘yes’ before he even finishes asking. She whispers it once, twice, and then she’s screaming it and he’s standing and he’s holding her and there are a lot of salty kisses to be shared in the living room of their home.

“Well,” he says as he wipes a few stray tears away. “Now that’s over with, show me around, Swan.” He drapes an arm across her shoulders and kisses her hair.

“Well, David and I used to wrestle in the living room, and there used to be a dent over there under the window…”

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, and thank you Saira for organizing a lovely event that got me writing this story (which sat half-done for about 2 years!). Thank you to everyone who looked at the words and made them better and everyone who commented and kudos-ed and everything in between. I'm so glad people liked this fic, truly. Perhaps someday I'll return to it....


End file.
